How to Train a Horse for Penning

Training horses is not for the novice or the faint of heart. You need stamina, experience with horses, and an ability to read a horse's body language. Training a horse for team penning is a complicated process that requires a steady and patient hand.

Things You'll Need

  • Trained saddle horse Cows Penning panels Arena or small paddock
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Instructions

  1. Training a Horse for Penning

    • 1

      Begin with a well-broken horse. Your horse must be willing to walk, jog, lope, stop, and turn on cue. It is useless to try to train a horse to pen cattle until he can pass these first steps.

    • 2

      Introduce your horse to cows. If she has never seen a cow up close, slowly walk her up to a penned cow so she can investigate the animal. Some horses do not mind cattle, but some are terrified of them. Your horse needs to be calm around cattle to train her to pen them.

    • 3

      Place cattle in a small paddock or arena, and ride your horse inside with them. Begin by simply walking the horse in with the cattle, encouraging her, and getting her used to their movements and sound. Encourage her to use her body to part them. Go slowly and offer lots of praise.

    • 4

      Begin jogging your horse in the arena and guide her into a small group of cattle. As she grows increasingly comfortable with the cattle's movement, speed her up to a lope. Continue this until your horse is comfortable at all gaits inside the arena.

    • 5

      Set up a pen with panels inside the arena and begin moving cattle into the pen using your horse. Once she is working well and understands what you are trying to do, buddy up with one partner, then two, then three, until you have a whole team of horses that are moving cattle around the enclosure and into the selected area.